Journalism in Difficult Places: Myanmar and Beyond

Journalists in Myanmar face a range of challenges and threats. Since the February 2021 military coup that plunged the country into revolutionary conflict, they have had to deal with material challenges (lack of access, unreliable bandwidth, dynamics of mistrust) as well as physical threats to their safety, whether reporting in active conflict zones or from abroad. In addition to the Myanmar military and its allies, journalists who report critically on the governance or human rights records of revolutionary armed groups can face threats from multiple directions. Even before the coup, reporting in Myanmar under previous oppressive regimes came with distinctive difficulties. In this panel discussion, journalists from Myanmar share their experiences and reflections on the challenges they have faced and the broader implications for maintaining a free and independent press under difficult circumstances. Han Htoo Zaw is a Myanmar investigative journalist and documentary photographer who began his journalism career in 2012. Following Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, the Myanmar military issued an arrest warrant against him because of his reporting, forcing him to flee the country. He later spent a year and a half covering armed conflict as a frontline war correspondent in areas affected by the civil war. His work focuses on investigating online scam compounds, narcotics production, human trafficking, war crimes, and the experiences of civilians displaced by conflict. Through both investigative reporting and documentary photography, he documents the human cost of violence, exploitation, and forced displacement, preserving the stories of people whose voices are too often unheard. Wa Lone is a Myanmar journalist for Reuters based in Toronto, Canada, where he reports on Canadian politics, immigration, and general news. Previously, he covered a wide range of in-depth stories in Myanmar, focusing on politics, human rights, and conflict. His reporting on the 2017 ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar earned him and his Reuters colleagues several journalism awards, including the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. His work has brought international attention to human rights abuses and the challenges faced by journalists reporting in conflict zones. Beyond journalism, Wa Lone is a children’s book author and a contributor to the Third Story Project, a charitable foundation that produces and distributes stories aimed at promoting tolerance and understanding among Myanmar’s ethnic groups. Through the project, he authored three children’s books exploring journalism and the natural environment, drawing inspiration from his rural roots. Irene Poetranto is a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab. Her research focuses on internet governance and the politics of internet regulation, digital security and identity politics (including gender and intersectionality), as well as countering terrorism, violent extremism, and hate speech online. Her geographic area of focus is Southeast Asia. Irene has a Ph.D in Political Science from the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, where she completed a dissertation that examined how Southeast Asian governments shape, regulate, and impose controls on the online flow of information. She obtained her Master’s degree in Political Science and Asia Pacific Studies from the University of Toronto and Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of British Columbia (UBC).